A look at the faces, tactics, folly bravery and conflicting emotions of the police who are at the frontline of the war at home.

While many of the police are doing their jobs whilst trying to weigh the balance of what side they want to be on in this war, the bottom line is that they are being forced to arrest people whose elected -- and unelected -- representatives have failed them. While a good few are as decent and restrained as you could ever wish a police officer -- or riot squad member -- to be, some are not behaving at all.

The glaring faces of policemen and riot squads -- many who have been caught illegally filming and photographing innocent protestors -- staring at you are real. The looks are directed at the very camera they are staring into. We have avoided shielding their names, badges and numbers, just as we have the faces of those against the war. The looks of compassion and fairness have been captured as well.

Click on the thumbnails to enlarge the image

Filmmakers...or policemen?

And then there were the faces...each telling its own story.

The bombs begin dropping over Baghdad. A war begins in San Francisco.

The faces of the police above, just before the onset of the war, were tense and somber, perhaps in anticipation of things to come. The images below reflect a hardening resolve and a hardening of tactic. This posture on the streets is becoming less unusual.

By the end of Saturday, March 22, 2003, the beautiful city of San Francisco looked like a police state out of Apartheid South Africa.